CAS Courses at Penn State York
Penn State York
Fall 2008 Schedule
Undergraduate Degree Bulletin (Blue Book)
Featured Course
CAS 250 - Students Engage in Community-wide Service Learning
Dealing with Crisis Management and Response Issues
To better prepare students to be leaders in emergency situations, Deborah Eicher-Catt, associate professor of communication arts and sciences, has added a crisis management and response component to her existing Small Group Communication course (CAS 250) for fall 2005 as part of a new service learning initiative. The class has been divided into several service teams, each with five to six students working together on service learning projects that will make a real difference in their community.
In particular, students are learning the importance of civic engagement and emergency preparedness through collaboration with the York County AmeriCorps Program's SecureCorps group. In addition to working on effective communication dynamics in teams, this new course focuses on team response communication in emergency situations. Students are working directly with York area VOAD (Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster) members to help them with their collaboration efforts. Students are actively involved in writing emergency operation plans, business contingency plans, agency service plans, and will be participating in training drills--all in an effort to help everyone prepare in the event of natural or man-made disasters. The service teams are also making community-wide presentations to agencies and companies to help educate everyone on the need for cooperation and coordination of community disaster relief efforts.
Students enrolled are quick to acknowledge the need for this type of business skill, especially given the recent disaster in Louisiana and Mississippi. As Tracy Warfel, one of Dr. Eicher-Catt's students in class, remarked, "I strongly feel that preparing communities and people for all types of disasters and emergencies is the single most important thing anyone can do. Especially in today's society, where terrorism and threats lie around every corner, and the fear that people feel every day as they go about their business, it is very important that people know what to do to protect their families and neighbors."
Dr. Eicher-Catt applied for and received funding for this new curriculum from Ready Campus, a statewide initiative in which college, university, emergency management, and civic officials collaborate to improve emergency response procedures in their shared communities. She hopes to bring a nationally recognized speaker on crisis management to Penn State York as part of this initiative.
CAS 100A Effective Speech (3)(GWS)
This is a general education course designed to introduce students to principles of effective public speaking, implemented through the design and presentation of individual speeches, a group symposium speech and message evaluation. Toward that end, class size is limited and class meetings involve considerable attention to public speaking skill development through in-class activities, collaborative learning, peer critiques, and analysis of public speeches and messages. Lecture and discussion address issues of group communication and message analysis and evaluation and all students have the opportunity to work in groups. This course enables students to be better prepared to work individually and in groups to make effective presentations. At least three individual public speeches, one group speech, and one message analysis are required in this course. Evaluation methods include evaluation beyond formal exams. Assessment includes evaluation by examination, speech evaluation and evaluation of written analysis and arguments. Public presentations are evaluated for content, organization, and presentation; group symposia are evaluated for cohesion among group members in regard to content, organization, presentation and group function; critical evaluation of messages is assessed in individual assignments; and application of course content is evaluated in written examinations. There will be three graded individual speeches, one graded group speech, one graded message critique, and one to two exams, with the possibility of quizzes on lecture and reading materials throughout the semester.
CAS 100B Effective Speech (3) (GWS)
This is a general education course designed to introduce students to principles of effective communication with a specific focus on group problem solving. The goal of CAS 100B differs from the goal of the other sections of CAS 100, with the goal of CAS 1OOB directed toward skill development in effective group communication, with less emphasis on formal public speaking and message evaluation. Toward that end, class size is limited and class meetings involve considerable attention to group dynamics, teamwork, and effective communication within groups. Through in-class activities, peer critiques, and analysis of both process and product, this course is designed to allow students to actively work in groups and engage in self-analysis of their own group processes. Structurally, this course begins with discussion of the principles of effective communication and public presentation and then covers significant course content addressing group communication and group process. This course enables students to work more effectively in groups, develop teams, and make effective group and individual presentations. At least one individual speech, several group communication activities, and one message evaluation are required in this course. Evaluation methods include evaluation beyond formal exams. Public presentations are evaluated for content, organization, and presentation; group work is evaluated for process effectiveness and outcomes; critical evaluation of messages is assessed in individual assignments; and all course content is covered on exams. There is one midterm exam and one final exam, with the possibility of quizzes on lecture and reading materials throughout the semester.
CAS 200 (US, IL) LANGUAGE, CULTURE, AND COMMUNICATION (3)
This course defines culture broadly, including how people conceptualize and enact reason, rationality, race/ethnicity, sex/gender, power, and age. Course content is organized into three large units: (1) how culture shapes language use; (2) how language use shapes culture; and (3) how culture and language (both verbal and nonverbal) operate together and influence each other, including how language is used to create, and negotiate understandings of culture. In the first unit, the class examines the effects of preconceived cultural beliefs on behavior; that is, how beliefs that a culture takes for granted as being true filter persons' perceptions of reality. This unit also covers the concepts of self-fulfilling prophecies, cultural stereotypes about age, the possibility of cross-cultural universals (e.g., politeness), and African-American culture. In the second unit, the class examines how the structure of different culture's languages (e.g., their vocabulary and grammar) shapes how persons experience the world and thus shapes their "reality." In the third unit, the class takes the position that various aspects of culture (e.g., race/ethnicity, sex/gender, power, and age) are constantly being constructed and re-constructed through language. This unit examines how persons accomplish being "a woman," "African American," "old," "polite", "powerful," etc. This class is interdisciplinary and incorporates materials from anthropology, applied linguistics, linguistic anthropology, communication studies, and sociology. Grades are based on three in-class exams (two midterms and a final), which are closed-book and involve short-answer and essay-type questions. Attendance is mandatory. This is one of the three core/required courses for the major. This course ties into another core course, Communication Theory, by discussing several key Communication Theories in different ways, such as the Sapir/Whorf hypothesis, Politeness Theory, and various theories of language. This course ties into those dealing with race and gender.
CAS 202 (GS) COMMUNICATION THEORY (3)
Survey of human communication studies in relational, interpersonal, group, organizational, intercultural, health, technology and mass communication systems.
CAS 271 (US, IL) Intercultural Communication (3)
This is an introductory course that also fulfills an intercultural and international competence (GI) requirement. CAS 271 is designed to give undergraduate students an introduction to the various issues, trends, and historical perspectives pertaining to communication within U.S. domestic and international cultures. Students will be graded on the following required assignments: (1) exams, (2) book reviews, (3) opinion-editorial position papers, (4) a class-organized campus tour designed to accent the achievements and contributions of people of color who are or have been affiliated with Penn State University, (5) journal of personal reflections concerning racial, ethnic, cultural and international communication issues, (6) six abstracts of journal articles that when synthesized will comprise a six-article literature review, (7) final presentation on cultural relationship building through communication. CAS 271 is an introductory survey course that is highly recommended to students as a course preceding several other 300 and 400-level courses on interpersonal, group and intercultural communication, relationships, and processes. This course is offered once a year with 35 seats per offering.
CAS 352 ORGANIZATION COMMUNICATION (3)
This course examines the function and structure of communication in both formal and informal situations.
CAS 411 RHETORICAL CRITICISM (3)
Principles of rhetorical criticism examined through analysis of selected texts and critics.
CAS 498A PUBLIC RELATIONS: THEORY AND PRACTICE (3)
Theory and practice of public relations, how public relations operates in organizations, its impact on publics and its function on society.
The University reserves the right to change the requirements and regulations listed here and to determine whether a student has satisfactorily met its requirements for admission or graduation, and to reject any applicant for any reason the University determines to be material to the applicant's qualifications to pursue higher education. Nothing in this material should be considered a guarantee that completion of a program and graduation from the University will result in employment.
